Harkers Island , NC Post Office

The Mail System

Captain Kelly aboard the Harkers Island mailboat,
The Pet

Until about 1894, the only way the
people of Harkers Island had to send and receive mail was by boat to
Beaufort. This was a distance of about eight miles, and had to be done
most of the time by sailboat.

Mason Fulford was the first postmaster
on the Island, and he served six months. Then, once again, it was necessary
to go back to Beaufort for the mail. Any person who happened to be going
to Beaufort would call for anyone=s mail who asked him to do so. This
continued until 1902 when Edna Yeomans was appointed Postmistress. She
held the job for two years. In 1904, Charles S. Davis was appointed
to the job. The post office was then in the north end of his store.
He served for two years, then his wife was appointed and held the job
for twenty-two years. In 1928, when she asked to be released from the
job, Floyd Yeomans was appointed. He is still on the job in 1957. He
moved the post office to Mr. Joe Hancock=s store, and about six years
later it was moved to a building on the highway. Until 1941, when the
bridge was finished, the mail was transported by boat. First, Mr. Sam
Davis carried it by mail boat; those who took it by motorboat were Charles
Davis, Cleveland Davis and Kelly Willis. Mr. Kelly Willis was mail carrier
when the bridge was completed and he began taking it by car. He and
Mr. Cleveland Davis also had the contract to take the mail from Harkers
Island to Cape Lookout. In the year 1956, Kelly Willis retired and a
Mrs. Moore of Marshallberg is our mail carrier as of 1957.